Left prefrontal transcranial direct-current stimulation reduces symptom-severity and acutely enhances working memory in schizophrenia

Oded Meiron; Jonathan David; Asaf Yaniv

doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2021.135912

Left prefrontal transcranial direct-current stimulation reduces symptom-severity and acutely enhances working memory in schizophrenia

Oded Meiron
, Jonathan David
, Asaf Yaniv

Bar-Ilan University - Faculty of Education

Herzog Hospital Jerusalem

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent studies indicated that left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may improve clinical status and cognitive functioning in schizophrenia patients. The current study examined the effects of left prefrontal anodal tDCS on symptom-severity and on working memory performance in schizophrenia (SZ) patients. We conducted a double-blind, randomized sham-controlled parallel-group trial. Following baseline clinical and WM assessments, 19 chronic SZ patients were randomly assigned to receive 10 sessions of either active left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) tDCS or sham DLPFC-tDCS across five consecutive days, followed by post-tDCS assessments every four weeks across 12 weeks. Active tDCS significantly alleviated symptom-severity versus baseline and versus sham tDCS. WM-performance improved versus baseline in the active tDCS group. Patients' symptom alleviation was maintained for four weeks after tDCS intervention. Patients' Post-tDCS WM scores were comparable to healthy controls' WM scores. The present findings highlight the benefits of left-prefrontal tDCS interventions and support the association between DLPFC dysfunction and symptom-severity in schizophrenia.

Original language	English
Article number	135912
Number of pages	5
Journal	Neuroscience Letters
Volume	755
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2021.135912
State	Published - 11 Jun 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.

Funding

The authors would like to thank the clinical staff at the Psychiatry Department at Herzog Medical Center for their dedication and assistance in the recruitment of patients for the current study. This work was partially supported by the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation , NY, NY [grant number 25689 ].

Funders	Funder number
Brain and Behavior Research Foundation	25689

Keywords

Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)
Executive attention
Schizophrenia (SZ)
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
n-back task

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10.1016/j.neulet.2021.135912

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abstract = "Recent studies indicated that left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may improve clinical status and cognitive functioning in schizophrenia patients. The current study examined the effects of left prefrontal anodal tDCS on symptom-severity and on working memory performance in schizophrenia (SZ) patients. We conducted a double-blind, randomized sham-controlled parallel-group trial. Following baseline clinical and WM assessments, 19 chronic SZ patients were randomly assigned to receive 10 sessions of either active left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) tDCS or sham DLPFC-tDCS across five consecutive days, followed by post-tDCS assessments every four weeks across 12 weeks. Active tDCS significantly alleviated symptom-severity versus baseline and versus sham tDCS. WM-performance improved versus baseline in the active tDCS group. Patients' symptom alleviation was maintained for four weeks after tDCS intervention. Patients' Post-tDCS WM scores were comparable to healthy controls' WM scores. The present findings highlight the benefits of left-prefrontal tDCS interventions and support the association between DLPFC dysfunction and symptom-severity in schizophrenia.",

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Left prefrontal transcranial direct-current stimulation reduces symptom-severity and acutely enhances working memory in schizophrenia

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

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